Method of treating or processing cloth or fabric



May v10,. 1938. M. N. BULFORD METHOD OF TREATING 0R PROCESSING CLOTH on FABRIC Filed April l7, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 'lNVENTOR Murra /V- Eulford BY ATT RNEY May 10, 193 8. M. N. BULFORD ,1

METHOD OF TREATING OR PROCESSING. CL OTH 0R FABRIC Filed April 17, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet? May 10, 1938. Y M. N. BULFORD 7,

METHOD OF TREATING OR PROCESSING CLOTH OR FABRIC Filed April 17, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet s &9 38 as F A 4/ 25 .2!

, 22 T2; 2 J/ a a 2L INVENTOR Murray IV- Bolfaro/ Patented May 10, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF 'mname on. PROCESSING CLOTH on FABRIC Application April 17; 1937, Serial No. 137,437

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for treating or processing cloth or fabric having projecting portions of cotton or fibresuch as projections known as "clip spots. This cloth is known in the trade as Marquisette, Dottie Dimple, etc.

Such projecting portions or clip spots when manufactured are matted down and must be brushed, shaped, raised or "fluffed up" to make the cloth or fabric attractive and saleable. When the clip spots are formed on flimsy fabrics such as mesh material, it is very diflicult to hold the fabric firm and against distortion or. warping while the spots are being brushed or raised.

This invention has for its salient object to provide a simple, practical and efficient method of and machine for brushing, raising or flufling up" projecting portions of fabric or cotton such as clip spots, and for holding the fabric against distortion and warping during this operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine having means for efliciently brushing, shaping or raising matted fabric or fibre cotton projecting portions thereof.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings which form a partoi' this application and in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine adapted for carrying out the method and constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end elevation illustrating a portion of the periphery of the supporting roll and rolls and brushes for brushing and raising the fabric; Y 1

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view looking at the opposite side of the machine from that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional elevation taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional elevation taken through one of the reciprocatable brushes;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken through the shaft on which the supporting roll is mounted; a i

. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatical top plan view of the machine, parts being omitted for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 8 is a'fragmentaryyiew showing. the fabric supported and held in position on the periphery of the main supporting and feeding roll; and

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of a portion of the 1abric treated on the machine.

The invention briefly described consists of a method of and a machine for raising or brushing projecting cotton or fibre portions of a fabric to fluff up such portions and render the fabric attractive in appearance and saleable. In order to support the fabric and to hold it against distortion or warping during the treatment or, brushing thereof, the fabric is supported and fed by a relatively large roll having a peripheral surface of friction material adapted to partially penetrate the fabric, such for instance as the material known as card clothing as used in carding machines. This surface holds the' fabric against distortion or warping as it is 'being fed through the machine. The machine is provided with a plurality of members mounted around the periphery of the supporting and feeding roll and movable 15 relative thereto, these members having projecting means thereon for brushing and shaping the projecting fibre or cotton portions such asclip spots.

In the machine there are utilized brushing rollers which are rotatably mounted certain of the rollers being adapted to rotate in one direction and others being arranged to rotate in the opposite direction, and there are also provided brushes which are reciprocatable axially.

The brushing rollers are also axially reciprocated.

Further details of the invention will be clear from the following specification.

In the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the machine is mounted on a base frame 20 supported on vertical frame members or pedestals 2|. The main supporting 'roller 22 is mounted on a shaft 23 supported in brackets which project upwardly from the base frame 20.

At each side or end of the supporting or feeding roll 22 there is mounted on the frame 20 an arcuate frame 25, the radius of this frame being substantially the same as theradius of the supporting roll 22. A secondand smaller r011 26 is mounted below the frame 20, the peripheral sur-' face of the roll 26 being substantially tangent to the peripheral surface of the roll 22.

The rolls 22 and 2B are provided at their; peripheries with friction material, preferably card clothing which consists of a plurality of wire teeth which project radially of the rolls. The wire teeth penetrate. the mesh material to'a sufflcient extent to hold this material firm and against distortion or warping when the fibre projections or clip spots thereof are being treated. The fabric treated on the machine is shown at F in Fig. 1, and as will be seen this material passes down wardly between the rolls 26 and 22 and around substantially the entire circumference of the roll 22, passing out of the machine as indicated by the arrow on Fig. 1, above the incoming portion of the fabric.

The material during its passage around the periphery of the rolf 22 is engaged by a plurality of rotatable brushing rolls 30, 3|, the rolls 30 and 3| being driven in opposite directions in the manner hereinafter described. The machine is also provided with a plurality of brushes 32 which are mounted in the manner hereinafter described for axial reciprocation, and are provided with brushing surfaces adapted to engage and brush the clip spots or projecting portions of the fabric laterally back and forth as the fabric passes beneath the brushes.

The manner in which the brushing rolls 30 or 3| are mounted is illustrated particularly in Fig. 4. Each of the rolls has a supporting spindle 35 at each end thereof which extends into a block or roll support 36 at one end of the spindle, the other end of the spindle being mounted in a bearing 31 carried by a bracket 38 adjustably mounted on the arcuate frame 25. The brackets are adjustable radially of the .roll 22 in the following manner. Each bracket has on the lower end thereof, a flange 38 through which extends an upwardly projecting screw 39 which is fixedly mounted at its lower end on a bracket 40. Nuts 4| and 42 are positioned above and below the flange 38. The brackets are held in adjustable position by a bolt 43.

The spindles 35 in addition to being rotatably supported in the bearings 31 are also axially movable therein, this movement being controlled by levers 45 which are mounted on fixed pivots 46 carried by the arcuate frame 25. The upper ends of the levers 45 are bifurcated and arepositioned between collars 41 mounted on the spindles 35. Each lever 45 has a flange 50 at its lower end or at its inner end and a. pair of rollers 5| and 52 is mounted on the flange and extend inwardly thereof toward the axis of the roll 22. The rollers 5| and 52 straddle or engage opposite surfaces of a cam 53 which is rotatably mounted on a shaft 23. As the cam 53 is rotated, it will be obvious that the levers 45 will axially reciprocate the brushing rolls 30, 3|, the cam being so. designed that alternate rollers are reciprocated in opposite directions.

The brushes 32 are mounted ,irifgmapner similar to the rollers 30, 3| as illustrated in Fig. 5, and

are reciprocated axially of the main supporting roll 22 by levers 45A which operate in the same manner as the levers 45. Further details of the mounting of and reciprocation of the brushes is deemed unnecessary in view of the exact similarity of this structure to the mounting and reciprocation of the brushing rolls.

In addition to their axial reciprocation each of the brushing rolls is positively rotated, this being accomplished in the following manner.

The rolls are driven by an endless belt 55 which is drivenby a pulley 56 rotatably mounted on the shaft 23. The pulley is tensioned by means of ad-' Justably mounted idler pulleys 56' and 51 which are mounted in bearings 58, vertically adjustable in brackets 59 carried by the base frame 20. The idler pulleys 56' and 51 function in the well known manner as belt tighteners.

The spindle 35 at the opposite end of the brushing roll 30 from the end of the roll engaged and reciprocated by the lever 45 has mounted there-; on a pulley 60 around which the belt 55 passes.

thus rotating the roll so in the direction indicated by .he arrow in Fig. 1.

It is desirable to rotate the rolls 3| in an opposite direction, and this is accomplished by passing the belt 55 around an idler pulley 6| mounted on the frame 25 and from the idler pulley around a pulley 62 carried by the spindle 35 of thefl'oll 3| After the belt passes around the pulley 62 it is again passed around the idler pulley 6| and thence passes around the pulley 60 of the next succeeding brushing roll 30. If desired, instead of passing the belt 55 around the pulley 62, this pulley can be driven by a separate belt, driven from the pulley 6|.

The driving connections for the various driven parts of the-machinewill now be described.

The main drive shaft 65 is driven from any suitable source of power by a belt 66 which engages a pulley 61 mounted on the shaft 65. The shaft 65 extends across the machine as shown in Fig. .4, and on one side of the machine has mounted thereon a sprocket wheel 68, and on the other end of the shaft there is mounted a sprocket wheel 63. The sprocket wheel 66 is connected by a chain 10 to drive a sprocket wheel 1| rotatably mounted on the shaft 23. The sprocket wheel 1| is keyed to the hub of the pulley 56 and drives the pulley thus driving the belt 55 which rotates the brushing rolls 30 and 3|. The sprocket wheel 69 is connected by a chain 15 to drive a sprocket wheel 16 on the hub of which is mounted a second sprocket 11. The sprocket wheel 16 is keyed to the hub 53' of the cam 53. The sprocket 11 is connected by a chain 18 to drive a sprocket wheel 19 mounted on a shaft 80. Shaft extends across the machine and has mounted on the other end'thereof a sprocket wheel 8| which is connected by a chain 82 to drive a sprocket wheel 63 which is keyed to and drives the shaft 23. .The roll 22 is also keyed to the shaft 23 and when the shaft is driven the roll 22 rotates.

Each of the brushing rolls 30 and 3| has its peripheral surface formed of card clothing or provided with bristles or brushes for engaging the projecting cotton or fibre portions of the. fabric such as clip spots, and furthermore each of the brushes 32 is also provided on the surface adjacent the periphery of the roll 22 with bristles or card clothing by means of which the brushing action is accomplished.

From the foregoing description it will beevident that the clip spots or projecting fibre por-. tions are thoroughly brushed, this brushing action operating to brush the spots alternately in opposite directions as well as laterally, thus causing the projections to be raised and thoroughly brushed and shaped to the desired form.

It will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 1

- that the pulleys 62 which drive the brushing rolls 3| have a smaller diameter than the pulleys 66 which drive the brushing rolls 30. The rolls 35 brush the projections on the fibre in a direction opposite to the direction of travel, whereas the rolls 3| brush the projections in the same directionas the direction of travel but operate more rapidly and at a higher rate of speed than the rate of travel of the fabric. e

Although one specific embodiment of the invention has been particularly described it is evident that changes in the construction and in the various cooperating parts and in the number of cooperating parts utilized may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as expressed in the following claims.

, What I claim is:

1. The method of brushing and rais ng projections on open mesh textile fabric having cotton or fiber projections thereon which consists of supporting and feeding, the fabric on a surface constructed and arranged to penetrate the openings in the fabric mesh and to hold the fabric against warping while brushing the projections successively in a plurality of directions to raise and flui! up the fiber.

MURRAY N. nuu'onn. 

